Morristown has been on the road for two straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Eastern Hancock Royals at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Morristown will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Indiana Rankings (they are ranked 420th, while Eastern Hancock is ranked 204th).
Last Saturday, Morristown lost to Alexandria-Monroe on the road by a decisive 62-45 margin.
Despite the defeat, Morristown had strong showings from Kellen Crim, who scored 13 points along with four steals, and Mathew Carlton, who scored 11 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Carlton has scored all season. William Snyder was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Eastern Hancock over Riverside in every quarter on their way to victory on Tuesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Eastern Hancock blew Riverside out of the water with a 69-33 final score. Eastern Hancock pushed the score to 56-23 by the end of the third, a deficit Riverside had no chance of recovering from.
Eastern Hancock's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Kayden Ruble led the charge by dropping a double-double on 22 points and 15 rebounds. Another player making a difference was Charlie Halcomb, who scored 16 points.
Morristown's defeat was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 2-15. As for Eastern Hancock, they now have a winning record of 9-8.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Morristown have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 23.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Eastern Hancock struggles in that department as they've been averaging 28.1 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Morristown was dealt a bruising 75-28 defeat at the hands of Eastern Hancock when the teams last played back in February of 2023. The game was all but decided by halftime, at which point Morristown was down 49-18.
